Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) are one potential strategy to support educational transformation or improvement, and this focus inherently requires new ways of working for both practitioners and researchers. This paper seeks to understand how RPP engagement within an EdD program supported the development of practitioner-scholars through a case study of the Multnomah County Partnership for Education Research (MCPER). The study describes the perceptions of 67 practitioner-scholars from eight different doctoral cohorts and how the RPP impacted them in terms of building capacity, serving the local community, and enhancing their identity as a researcher: 89% of respondents reported learning valuable information, 79% described how the information learned was relevant to their professional lives, and 87% said completing the report developed their identity as a researcher. The practitioner-scholars also largely noted that completing a report improved their capacity to conduct data analysis (86% agreed), write a program evaluation report (84% agreed), and write a literature review (80% agreed). In terms of how participating in the RPP helped the practitioner-scholars, qualitative coding revealed participating in the project was a "real-world," "boots on the ground" process that involved "serving the greater good" and built their confidence as a researcher. Engagement with the Multnomah County Partnership for Education Research (MCPER) is one strategy to support practitioners to develop these practitioner-scholar capacities.